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"NBA 2K14" the Hands On Preview

Not a week goes by that there isn't some speculation about LeBron James' free agency status in 2014.

Whether you are a die hard Miami Heat fan or if you follow LeBron no matter what team he's on, 2K Sports' fortune telling department has some fantastical ideas on how his next seven years will play out. NBA2K14's Path To Greatness will allow you to play key games in LeBron's future, from major regular season match ups to several Game 7s.

Path To Greatness actually goes down two paths. The Heat Dynasty scenario follows the next seven years of LeBron's career in South Beach. In one game, 2K predicts a 2015 NBA Final Game 7 on the road against a fortified Golden State Warriors team and the always-loud Oakland crowd. Then there's June 16, 2016, where LeBron is facing off a Lakers team with Kevin Love, Carmelo Anthony and a Kobe Bryant who has one last chance to win a sixth ring.

The more robust Fantastic Journey finds LeBron taking his talents elsewhere, most notably New York and (spoiler!) a return to Cleveland. If you haven't noticed yet, 2K not only plays around with LeBron's potential career choices but also moves around other superstars like Tony Parker playing for the Wizards. And some of these matches aren't full games. One game finds LeBron and Knicks with a 15-point deficit in the fourth quarter, quite a challenge since there's only 6 minutes left.

What helps this mode a lot is that the color commentary cast of Clark Kellogg, Steven Kerr, Kevin Harlan also play along with these future events. However unbelievable, their play-by-play tries to convince you that someone like Kevin Garnett can still contribute in 2016 and as a starting Bull no less.

It should be noted that this mode will only be available for Xbox 360, PS3, and Windows, which underscores Visual Concepts decision to make their Xbox One and PS4 versions from the ground up and not as mere ports with better textures.

Path To Greatness does not replace the full single player campaign so you can still play 82 games in the regular season. But if you don't mind a little fantasy and fiction, 2K Sports has a good imagination. It's just too bad they weren't allow make proper roster predictions by picking future stars from today's NCAA players. Instead they have to make up names of future stars like John Trice and Dimitris Drakos. It's all in good fun as much as it is crazy to see Derrick Rose, Carmelo Anthony and, Dwanye Wade on the same team.